Everett Archives: JanSports Never Die
What’s in a backpack?
It’s a funny question, but one that I’ve recently thought about. A lot.
Buying an article of clothing or an accessory is a big commitment. As a dad, I have a lot of factors to take into consideration when buying my kids clothes. Like, price, style, and functionality.
But I’m most interested in durability and quality. Any clothes I buy for my eldest daughter have to be tough enough to last the hand-me-down cycle, until my youngest daughter inherits them. And along the way there are plenty of mud puddles, scuffed knees, and tumbles from a bike.
I need things that can weather extreme wear and tear.
Which brings me to JanSport. The smallish backpacks, once ubiquitous, still pop up everywhere. They never die. They used to be made in Everett, after all. The Everett factory closed in 2012, but people still carry around JanSport bags that look like they’re in mint condition.
This is a testament to made in America goods in general, and to things made in Everett, specifically. We’re a city of craftspeople and trades-workers. The quality of things we make has to be top-notch, even down to the backpacks.
I recently posted an inquiry on the Facebook group Vintage Everett, asking anyone if they worked for JanSport back in the day, or still had their backpack. Soon the comments section on that post was flooded with people.
A few respondents had been employees for decades. Apparently, JanSport was a good company to work for. Some of them sewed pockets or well remembered the smell of melted nylon. Many were seasonal workers looking for a summer job to put them through college (those glorious days of America’s past when three-month gig paid for higher education).
I have my own memory of my mom taking me to the JanSport outlet in South Everett near Boeing. She bought me a back-to-school backpack. I’m unsure what happened to it over the years, but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere. JanSports never die.
JanSport started making backpacks in Everett in 1971. They produced them on Hardeson Road, near the Boeing plant. At their peak they employed 110 workers and brought in 60 temporary workers during summers to ramp up production for back-to-school sales in the fall.
They had a quality guarantee where you could get your busted zipper replaced. School kids could take a tour of the factory and watch how a backpack or bag was made start to finish, and then take their own bag home at the end of the tour. The company donated used bags to local Boy Scouts -- the troops used them as day packs to haul the 10 essentials into the woods.
In 2012 the Everett JanSport factory closed. It was bought out by VF Corp, a large parent brand that also owns Vans, North Face, and Wrangler among other sub-brands.
The story here is pretty much like you might imagine. American-made goods couldn’t compete with cheaply-produced accessories in other countries. The global supply chain demanded faster, more “affordable” goods.
And can I just say that that really bums me out? I feel like JanSport was a good thing for Everett: quality goods produced in exchange for quality jobs and an investment back in the community (that’s you, Boy Scouts).
So, RIP JanSport. You left in your wake tens of thousands of top-tier packs that are still beloved by many to this day.
What’s in a backpack? I guess that depends. It could be a decades-long career, a college education, or a child’s introduction to the outdoors.
I’m just looking for something that will stand up to a precocious six-year-old in the rain on training wheels.
(Funny footnote... the new iteration of JanSport offers a sporty backpack that they call the Everett pack. I can only assume it’s a nod to our fair city and the brand’s legacy here.)
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